Colorful flower still lifes and portraits were the specialty of the painter Rie de Balbian Verster-Bolderheij. Her colors are tingling, her style is impressionistic, strong and broad, in which the influence of her teacher Isaac Israels can be heard. The painter was born in Amsterdam in 1890 and married the journalist and connoisseur of old art J.F.L. the Balbian Verster. It was their friend Willem Wenckebach who encouraged her to paint. In 1965 the painter moved to Blaricum, where she became a member of the Gooische Painterskring. She was also a member of Arti et Amitiae and the association St. Lucas in Amsterdam.